


The Smoky Cherry

by Flash_Asuna



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Swan Queen Week, Swan Queen Week Winter 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 21:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9517736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flash_Asuna/pseuds/Flash_Asuna
Summary: Swan Queen Week - Day 2January 30th, 2017Prompt: Coffee Shop AUTitle: The Smoky CherrySummary: After weeks of the Smoky Cherry being closed, Regina was pleased to find that her favorite cafe was open again. Only to discover that it was now owned by some blonde Californian startup millennial.





	

 

Regina felt a wave of dissatisfaction the moment she walked into the new _Smoky Cherry_ cafe. It had been her place of respite. A place where she could sit in a worn out wooden chair at a mismatched table with a book and a cup of coffee. The _Smoky Cherry_ was closed for weeks. Paper blocked the view of the windows and not a single person was seen going in and out of the building. When it reopened, the regulars, including Regina, had been hesitant.

The storefront had changed. Instead of the clear glass windows where you could see people sitting and drinking at those old tables, there were now half frosted glass panes with the frosting made to look like a forest of trees. It made a pretty visual, but it wasn’t what they were used to.

At least the name hadn’t changed. It was named for the coffee cherry and the particularly smoky chicory coffee the previous owner liked to make. But everything else was unfamiliar. The worn out carpet that had turned a blackish-brown flattened covering was ripped out and the raw concrete below was painted and glossed over. The beat up old chairs were replaced by brown microsuede armchairs with thick fluffy cushions and huge bookshelves lined the walls. The coffee equipment was brand new and shiny, the pastry display was incredibly clean and brightly lit with low energy LEDs. 

Regina wanted to literally bit her tongue. Not only did the new owners upgrade their equipment, they added equipment. At the end of the counter, at a bar counter were two halogen beam siphon boilers, a balancing siphon boiler and finally the one coffee arrangement that made Regina shudder… a shallow copper wok filled with fine red sand and Turkish coffee pots. This wasn’t her old coffee shop… this was new, pretentious and so very hipster.

To her disgust, the place looked… better. Although the furniture was made to look old, it was newer and looked expensive. But that wasn’t the _Smoky Cherry._ So why go back? It was an obvious question she asked herself. Maybe it was that she didn't care for the Peet’s Coffee or Starbucks that graced every other block in town. Or maybe it was that every time she had walked by after the new _Smoky Cherry_ had opened, the blonde woman she glimpsed through the window had caught her eye.

The first time she saw the woman it was as she passed the newly opened cafe on her way to work. Blonde hair tied back into a messy ponytail and a heart shaped face illuminated by the halogen glow of the siphon boilers. She never saw the woman in anything other than t-shirts and a black apron… but Regina was sure she looked like a hipster. Some kind of Californian transplant who thought they knew everything there was about coffee. So she mentally protested the new _Smoky Cherry_ and resisted the urge to go inside.

But every time she walked by, as the cafe was right on her commute, if it was day or night, she saw the blonde either chatting with a customer or diligently inspecting the coffee stores in giant air tight mason jars. 

So what drew her in this time? She was off of work early. Not quite in the mood to go home to the apartment she shared with her sister, but not quite in the mood to call up a friend and go out. With curiosity taking over, she found herself walking through that frosted forest storefront of the _Smoky Cherry_ and staring in awe at the neatly organized shelves of coffee beans. Each jar was tightly sealed and had the blend name or origin name written in chalk on blackboard paint on the jar. Every single jar was dated and placed in alphabetical order. The little OCD gnome in her head squealed with delight. 

It was mid afternoon, some time between the post lunch rush and the commuting hour. The shop was surprisingly empty. Regina looked around for someone. If she had made it in here, she should at least have a cup of coffee. There were other workers, besides the blonde woman. She had seen a few others, but the only one she really took notice of was the blonde.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear the door open,” a voice greeted her, causing Regina to jump slightly at the noise. “Did I startle you? I’m sorry.”

The blonde woman smiled sheepishly from behind the counter. She was exactly as Regina had seen her every other time. But this was the first time she got a closer glimpse of her.   She couldn’t have been more than 5’6” or 5’7”, about the same height as Regina. Playful green eyes and a lopsided grin. She was wearing a plain white v-neck shirt and dark blue jeans with forest green converse sneakers under her black apron. Black rimmed hipster glasses framed her eyes and the only thing that Regina thought of besides how beautiful this woman was, was that she only needed a newsboy cap to complete the hipster look. 

A hand came out towards Regina from across the counter. “Welcome to the _Smoky Cherry_. I’m Emma.” 

Regina took her hand and looked down. Emma’s arm was covered in tattoos. Just one arm, but the colors caught her eye and somehow everything about this woman captivated Regina. Her hands were dusted with coffee grounds and the rich aroma of roasted beans permeated everything around her. But it was pleasant.

“Regina Mills… I used to come here a lot before it shut down for awhile.”

Emma grinned, “Oh! You’re one of the regulars? My dad told me there were some really great people who came by all the time.”

“You’re the owner’s daughter?” Regina asked. She must have had the most shocked look on her face by the way that Emma laughed.

“Kinda hard to believe, isn’t it? My dad retired from running the shop. After my baby brother was born, he wanted more time to spend at home, so we made a deal that I would come back and take over the shop after my internship was over.” Emma walked over towards the coffee bar and offered Regina a seat on a stool. Regina sat down without even realizing that she was being guided by the blonde.

“Are you just out of college?” Regina had graduated several years ago after obtaining her Masters degree in Foreign Policy, but due to lack of opportunities in foreign affairs, she was stuck doing Spanish translations for a local tech company. 

Emma shook her head as she walked around the bar and began fiddling with some of the miscellaneous tools there. “No, I graduated a couple of years ago. I was studying sustainable businesses and coffee co-ops in Latin America. My family’s been in the coffee business for years. Well, my dad is. My mom is fine with the stuff from the gas station.”

Regina smiled. Although she hated to admit she was wrong… she was wrong this time. The same family owned her beloved cafe and the new proprietor seemed to be further educated on coffee than she had expected. Regina wasn’t even sure when she started it, but Emma was halfway through the brewing of some Turkish coffee as they conversed. She watched as the blonde pushed the copper lined cezva in the wok of red sand.

“I’m glad to see that the regulars are coming back. I’d hate to see all of the effort my dad put into the place go to waste.” Emma said, peering into the bubbling pot.

“I’ll be honest, I was pretty hesitant about coming in,” Regina admitted. “It didn’t feel like the old _Smoky Cherry._ It’s somewhere between a tech company lounge and a minimalist’s dream.”

Emma laughed, “You think? Part of it was my dad’s idea. He wanted me to have a place that the ‘younger generation’ would appreciate and thought maybe the old look was still stuck in the mid 90’s. He hadn’t done much to it since he picked up the place from the previous owner. But that’s also why the coffee selection hadn’t changed in fifteen years.”

“Some people liked the consistency,” Regina answered. 

Picking up a red and black demitasse cup, Emma laughed as she wrote on it with a black permanent marker. “I promise, I’m not making bad changes. Like I said, this has been my dad’s shop since I was a kid.” 

Regina smirked as Emma carefully poured the coffee from the cezva into two demitasse cups. The scent of cardamom drifted through the air and surrounded them briefly as Emma set the cup in front of Regina and leaned on the counter, leaving only a foot of space between their faces. “Turkish coffee? In the afternoon? I’m feeling pretty lucky.”

Emma smiled softly and held up her cup, “I think I’m the lucky one. Didn’t expect to have a pretty woman join me for the afternoon.”

Regina blushed. She took note of the black marker on the cup as she lifted it and turned it slowly. In blocky print, her name was written onto the side of the tiny cup. She looked up at Emma in confusion. “What’s this?”

The blonde grinned, “I like to keep things sustainable here. If you sit and have coffee, you’ll have it in your cup. My treat for the regulars. If you have a favorite cup you want to use here, bring it in and I’ll add it to the shelf.” She pointed to rows of hooks under the cabinets that stored the coffee. On each hook was a plain colored mug or demitasse cup in different colors. Some had names, others were still blank. Each pair of hooks had a mug in the back and a demitasse in the front. 

Regina sipped at the coffee and smiled warmly at the spices and the citrusy aromatics that coated her senses. Feeling a bit emboldened, she set the cup down and looked Emma squarely in the eyes. The blonde tilted her head slightly, trying to read Regina’s expression. “You know… I was pretty adamant about not coming in. I was so sure that some Californian millennial had taken over this place and that it would just be a knock-off Starbucks.” Regina frowned, hoping that she wasn’t insulting Emma. “But… you caught my eye.”

“I did?” Emma squeaked.

“Every day I walk by here on my way to and from work. Sometimes I see you, sometimes I don’t… but every time I did see you, you were so focused that it’s really captivating… I’m glad I decided to walk in today.” Regina admitted. “I really just wanted the chance to talk to you.”

“I have a confession to make,” Emma said as she stood up.

“What’s that?”

“I wrote your name on that cup to give you a reason to come back in here.”

Regina held back a chuckle, “You thought a cup with my name on it would be enough to keep me coming in?”

The blonde gave a lopsided grin and shrugged, “It was worth a shot.”

“I think I have a pretty good reason for coming in… and it’s not a cup with my name on it.”

Emma felt the heat creeping up to her face. She took off her glasses and idly pretended to clean them as Regina finished the last bit of her coffee. The front door opened and Emma put her glasses back on to greet them. Regina stood up and opened up her purse, “How much do I owe you for the coffee, Emma?”

The blonde grinned from the counter as the reached for a to go cup for the next patron. “It’s on me.”

“That’s ridiculous. Come on, I don’t take handouts.” Regina frowned, opening up her wallet and preparing to pull out some cash.

Emma moved around behind the coffee bar like it was second nature to her. She had started up a siphon boiler and was carefully measuring coffee into the upper chamber when she turned to Regina and smiled. “Okay, then the cost of your coffee is a dinner date.”

“What?” 

“How about it? You pick the time, I’ll find the place. Otherwise, it’s $5.80 for the Turkish Coffee and I’ll take it with a side of utter embarrassment.” Emma did her best to sound confident but the pounding in her chest was clearly her heartbeat trying to jump into her throat and out onto the counter.

Regina gave the offer some thought and smiled as Emma poured the siphoned coffee into recycled paper cups. She finished up her transaction with the other guest and sauntered over to where Regina was standing. “So… should I go hide and pretend we never had this conversation?” Emma bit her lower lip, hoping she had played that off as smoothly as it had been in her head.

“I get off at 5 tomorrow night. Meet you here?” Regina asked with a playful smile. Emma nodded and placed the other paper cup into Regina’s hands. She looked at the cup and saw the blocky print written on the side again. This time it said ‘Emma Swan’ in big letters and a phone number underneath it. Regina leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Emma’s cheek. “It’s a date then.”

“See you tomorrow, Regina.” Emma replied. She stood there with a silly grin on her face until Regina passed through the glass doors. As she walked away from the storefront, Regina sipped at the coffee and smiled into her cup. The jubilant cheer that echoed through the coffee shop reached her ears faintly as she walked away.


End file.
